Pile driver hammer counterbalance



May 27, 1941- T. H. SETTLE FILE DRIVER HAMMER COUNTERBALANCE.

Filed Sept. 14, 1959 Patented May 27, 1941 hire-p sires 2,243,292 FILEBRIVER HAMMER COUNTERBALANQE Thomas H. Settle, Upland, Calif.Application September 14, 1939, Serial No. 294,945

7 Claims.

This invention relates to pile driving apparatus and pertains to meansfor balancing a power operated hammer on a pile.

The present invention has for its primary object to provide a simplyconstructed but novel counterbalancing means which when used inassociation with a power operated pile driver, will maintain the pilehammer in the desired position upon. the upper end of the pile as it isbeing driven into position.

Another object. is to provide a counterbalancing means for a piledriving hammer which will permit the hammer to be disposed at an angleto the vertical, whereby it may be employed for driving a pile into theground at an angle, the counterbalancing guide maintaining a verticalposition with respect to the hammer.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing forming part of this specification, with the understanding,however, that the invention is not to be confined to any strictconformity with the showing of the drawing but may be changed ormodified so long as such changes or modifications mark no materialdeparture from the salient features of the invention as expressed in theappended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view illustrating the application of the present inventionto a pile driving hammer suspended from a supporting boom, showing themeans for raising and lowering the counterbalance.

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of the counterbalance unit per se, lookingat the face of the portion to which the hammer is secured.

Fig. 3 is a sectional View on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the numeral I generallydesignates a supporting boom from which is suspended by a cable 2, apile driving hammer 3 of the steam or power operated type, the hammerbeing shown in position upon the upper end of a pile 4.

In accordance with the present invention the boom is provided with asecond pulley 5 over which is run a cable 6 and one end of this cable isconnected with a weight 1 which is slidably disposed upon the top of theboom.

At the other end of the cable 6 which is attached to the balance WeightI is the hammer counterbalancing unit embodying the present inventionand this consists of a T-beam 8 which has one end connected to the cable6 and to the head 5 of which is slidably connected 2. plate E9. Theplate I!) is of slightly greater length than the hammer 3 and isdisposed longitudinally of the hammer as shown, and on its back face areformed the opposed guides H between which the edges of the head portionof the beam 8 slida'bly engage.

At its lower end the head 9 of the supporting beam 8 has the laterallyextending stop ears 12 which engage across the ends of the guides I! andlimit downward movement of the plate ill on the beam 53.

Secured upon the longitudinal center of the plate ill at the bottomthereof, by a bolt I3, is a foot bracket i l. Across the topof the plateIt upon the hammer side or face thereof, is disposed a rocker beam I5which is in the form of an angle iron, one flange of which is providedwith suitable apertures l5, which correspond with apertures, not shown,in the plate H! to receive securing bolts ll. By these bolts the beam I5is secured across the top of the plate it with one flange projectingforwardly and having spaced parallel relation with the foot bracket l4.

As shown in Fig. 1, the hammer 3 is disposed between and secured to thebracket M and beam 55, and thus it will be seen that when the hammer isin place upon a pile, the counterbalance guide will be disposedvertically at its side. When the pile is to be driven into the ground atan angle, then the bolts H are removed and the hammer is rocked on thefoot bracket M to the desired angular position and one or both of thebolts ll may be replaced to hold the hammer in the angular relation withrespect to the beam 8. Fig. 2 illustrates how the plate NJ may beoscillated to an angular position for keeping the hammer at an anglewhile the supporting guide maintains its vertical position.

When the hammer is lifted from the pile and drawn upwardly toward theboom, the balance Weight 1 for the counterbalancing unit will raise thisunit with the hammer and a the hammer is moved downwardly into positionon a pile, the plate It will be limited in its downward movement withrespect to the beam 8 by the ears I! so that the unit will be drawn downinto the proper working position and the unit will functicn to maintainthe hammer upright while it is in operation for driving the pile intothe ground.

It has been previously stated that the hammer 3 is disposed between andsecured to the bracket Ill and beam E5. The means by which theconnection may be made between these parts may be of any suitablecharactenbut it is preferred that these parts It and I5 be welded to thehammer 3 so that there will be no possibility of the hammer and theguide becoming separated.

What is claimed is:

1. In pile driving apparatus, including a boom and a power driven hammersuspended therefrom, a bar suspended by one end from said boom, a plateslidably connected with said bar, means coupling said hammer with saidplate, means limiting the sliding movement of said plate downwardly onsaid bar, and means supported by the boom and connected with the bar foreffecting the raising of the bar and the plate with the hammer.

2. In pile driving apparatus, including a boom and a power hammersuspended therefrom, a T-beam, cable means connecting an end of saidbeam with the boom facilitating vertical movement of the beam withrespect to the boom, a plate slidably attached to the head of the T-beam, means limiting the movement of the plate on the T-beam, and meanssecuring said hammer to one side of said plate.

3. In pile driving apparatus, including a boom and a power hammersuspended therefrom, a T- beam, cable means connecting an end of saidbeam with the boom facilitating vertical movement of the beam withrespect to the boom, a plate slidably attached to the head of the T-beam, means limiting the movement of the plate on the T-beam, and meanssecuring said hammer to one side of said plate, said means being soconstructed and arranged that the hammer may be oscillated to an angularposition with respect to the plate and beam.

4. In apparatus of the character described, a power driven hammer, anelongated beam, a plate disposed against a side of the hammer, meansslidably coupling said plate with said beam, means securing the hammerto the plate, the hammer and plate being designed to be independentlysuspended, and means for altering the position on the plate of thesecuring means for the hammer for securing the hammer at an angularposition with respect to the plate.

5. In apparatus of the character described, a power driven hammer, aT-beam, a plate disposed longitudinally of the T-beam and against thehead of the same, guide means carried by the plate and slidably couplingthe same with the head of the T-beam, bracket means oscillatablyattached to said plate adjacent an end thereof, said beam at the endremote from said bracket means being formed to facilitate its suspensionby a cable, and a beam secured transversely of the plate adjacent theend of the plate remote from said bracket means, the hammer beingsecured vertically between the bracket means and the last mentioned beamand the hammer being adapted to be suspended independently of the firstbeam,

6. In apparatus of the character described, a power driven hammer, aT-beam, a plate disposed longitudinally of the T-beam and against thehead of the same, guide means carried by the plate and slidably couplingthe same with the head of the T-beam, bracket means oscillatablyattached to said plate adjacent an end thereof, said beam at the endremote from said bracket means being formed to faciliate its suspensionby a cable, a beam secured transversely of the plate adjacent the end ofthe plate remote from said bracket means, the hammer being securedvertically between the bracket means and the last mentioned beam and thehammer being adapted to be suspended independently of the first beam,and stop means forming an integral part of the T-beam for limiting thelongitudinal movement of the plate in one direction thereon.

7. In apparatus of the character described, a power driven hammer, anelongated beam, a plate disposed against a side of a hammer, meansslidably coupling said plate with said beam, a bracket member secured tothe side of the plate opposite from the beam for engaging and supportingthe hammer, said bracket member being mounted for oscillation on an axisextending transversely of the plate and beam, a clamping beam extendingtransversely of said plate at the opposite end of the hammer from saidbracket and engaging the top of the hammer and cooperating with thebracket to maintain the hammer secured to the plate, and means securingthe clamping beam to said plate which is so constructed and arrangedthat the clamping beam may be shifted across the adjacent face of theplate along an arcuate path having as its center the center ofoscillation of said bracket to secure the hammer in a selected angularposition with respect to the plate and the said elongated beam.

THOMAS H. SETTLE.

